THE CIRCUS

Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to
buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between
the ticket counter and us. This family made a big impression on me.
There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could
tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive,
but they were clean. The children were well behaved, all of them
standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They
were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, elephants and other acts
they would see that night. One could sense they had never been to
the circus before. It promised to be a highlight of their young lives.
.
The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud
as could be. The mother was holding her husband's hand, looking up
at him as if to say, "You're my knight in shining armour." He was
smiling and basking in pride, looking at her as if to reply, "You got that
right."
.
The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He
proudly responded, "Please let me buy eight children’s tickets and
two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus."
The ticket lady quoted the price.
The man's wife let go of his hand, her head dropped; the man's lip
began to quiver. The father leaned a little closer and asked, "How
much did you say?"
The ticket lady again quoted the price.
The man didn't have enough money. How was he supposed to turn
and tell his eight kids that he didn't have enough money to take them
to the circus?
.
Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand into his pocket,
pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground. (We were not
wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father reached down, picked
up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me sir,
this fell out of your pocket."
.
The man knew what was going on. He wasn't begging for a handout
but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking,
embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my dad's eyes, took
my dad's hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and
with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied,
"Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my
family."
.
My father and I went back to our car and drove home. We didn't go to
the circus that night, but we didn't go without.